March 2017
Letter from the Director
 I had the pleasure and privilege of joining epilepsy agencies from across Ontario for Epilepsy Action Day at Queen's Park on February 28.
Kicking off Epilepsy Awareness Month, we met with our representatives to discuss the provincial epilepsy strategy - which has made Ontario an international leader in the field of epilepsy. This strategy included increasing the number of beds at Epilepsy Monitoring Units at CHEO and The Civic, as well as the provincial guidelines for epilepsy care.
We encouraged our MPPs to support efforts to distribute the guidelines where they are needed most and ensure that no matter where in Ontario a person with epilepsy lives, they get a consistent basic level of care. We also asked them to help us access funding for the one piece of the epilepsy strategy they have not yet financed - the Community Epilepsy Liaison who would help connect families living with epilepsy to much needed services and resources in the community. All in all, it was a successful day - but this is just the beginning. I'm looking forward to the follow up meetings I have with local MPPs in the coming weeks.
We're now a few days in to Epilepsy Awareness Month. Have you decided what you'll do to raise awareness in the community? We have a list of suggestions here.
Please take photos of your Epilepsy Awareness Month and Purple Day events and email them to info@epilepsyottawa.ca so we can share them on our website and on social media.
We have some interesting and exciting events planned this month. I hope to see you there.
A quick note about our Parents Supporting Parents Group: I'm sorry to report that we've lost our regular meeting space. We've been hard at work to find a replacement but haven't yet been successful. If you know of a community space west of Pinecrest Mall available for an hour at 7pm one Sunday a month at an economic rate (or, even better, free), please email info@epilepsyottawa.ca.
Have a wonderful Epilepsy Awareness Month!
Nikki Porter, PhD
Executive Director
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